Electron tube socket for printedcircuit panels



3,131,988 ELECTRON TUBE SOCKET FOR PRINTED-CIRCUIT PANELS Filed May 2, 1960 May 5, 1964 w. r. JENSEN ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS WiHiamIiJensen nd, EdwardEfiehri:

BY I JM ATTORNEYS y 5, 1964 w. T. JENSEN ETAL 3,131,988

ELECTRON TUBE SOCKET FOR PRINTED-CIRCUIT PANELS Filed May 2, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fia? F168 INVENTORS WiTLiamTJensen dEdwinEfiehT'i ATTORNEYS r enemas ELECTRON TUBE SQQKET FDR PPJNTED- @TRCUIT PANELS William T. Jensen, Libertyvllle, and Edwin E. Gehrt, Melrose Park, ilk, assignors to Methode Electronics, The,

{a corporation of Illinois Filed May 2, 1%9, Ser. No. 25,911

" r 2 (Dlaiins. (Cl. 339-193) sufficiently self-supporting therein to enable a subsequent dip-soldering operation to effect soldered electrical connections between the printed circuit wiring and the elements of the socket which receive the prongs of the tube. The improved socket is of the type in which contact sockets are arranged on an insulating body to receive the prong of the tube and each contact socket is provided with a prong portion extending out of the other United States Patent end of the body and enters an individual hole in the printed-circuit panel. Each contact socket with its prong portion is referred to hereafter as a connector member.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved electron tube socket for insertion into preformed openings in printed circuit panels which socket, when so inserted, will be sufficiently self-supporting to permitof later dip or spot soldering techniques to make the necessary connections between the printedcircuit wiring and the conductive-connector members of the tube socket.

provide a new and novel form of connector member for tube sockets.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an electron tube socket in which'the individual connector members are rigidly received and locked within the insulating body portion in such manner that the entire assembly is capable of withstanding repeated insertion and Withdrawals into the openings in the printed circuit panel without disturbing the rigidity of the entire structure.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following specifications taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a preferred form of a tube socket manufactured in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same socket;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation section on the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing partial insertion of a connector member within the insulating body portion;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the final position of the connector member in the fully assembled state;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the connector members in the form in which they are manufactured prior to assembly into a socket;

FIG. 7;

3,131,988 Patented May 5,, 1964 ice 7 2 FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view partially in section on the lines 66of FIG. 4; 7

FIG] shows a section of a printed circuit panel from 'the under side thereof with openings formed for reception of a tube socket of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation in section showing a socket made in accordance with the present invention and assembled into a printed circuit panel of the typeshown in FIG. 9 is a detailed sectional view showing the assembled relationship of one connector member and a printed circuit panel; i a

FIG. 10 is a side elevation in section of a tube socket in accordance with the present invention with a tubular tube shield and ground strap attached thereto;

FIG. 11 is a partial bottom plan view of the device shown in FIG. 10. V Y

In general, the objects of the present invention are achieved by providing an insulating body member of cylindrical form and having a flange extending radially outwardly adjacent and coplanar with one end face of the body; A plurality ofbores are formed through the flange portion of the body, the bores being parallel with the axis of the body and distributed in a circular array. An equal number of bores forming a second circular array are formed in the cylindrical portionof the body,

the bores of the two arrays being arrangedin pairs, the two bores of each pair being centered on a common radial plane of the socket body. This web portion of the body between adjacent bores of each pair is recessed below the upper radial face of the flange. A plurality of loosely placed in each of the bores in the body member and the entire assembly is placed in a die which forces the connector members downwardly, bending the tube prong receiving socket portion upwardly in .the process until it lies at an angle of to the prong portion in the final assembly state. Following this operation, a cutter die is actuated to cut and flare a portion of the connector prong immediately adjacent the'under side of the flange to provide a shoulder which prevents displacement of the connector members with respect to the body during insertion of the completed assembly into preformed openings in a printed circuitpanel.

Referring now to the drawings for a more complete description of the present. invention, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a seven pin tube socket from the top and bottom respectively in which the insulating body member is designated generally by the reference numeral 1d and the connector members designated "generally by the reference numeral 11.

Referring now to FIG. 5 .of the attached drawings, there is here shown a preferred embodiment of the connector members 11 in .the form in which they appear prior to assembly within the insulating body bores and together as shown. Thus, channel portionlz with flanges- 16 and 17 forms the tube prong socket portion of the connector member. The prong portion of the connector member is formed from the elongated channel section portion 13 which issubstantially U-shaped incross section with a cut-out 18 formed in the web and adjacent flange sections. The entire Web is removed at the free end, leaving a pair of substantially parallel legs 20 and 21 which function as spring clips or arms of a bifurcated prong portion in the manner to be described herein-after. At a point intermediate the length of the legs 20 and 21 there is formed what is known to the trade as ball ends. These are in the nature of outwardly bulged portions indicated in the drawing at 213 and the bulging is substantially equal'on both of the legs and is symmetrical about a common axis passing between the legs. The purpose here is to provide a resilient means for retaining the assembled socket member on a panel, the bifurcated prong portions being engaged in a plurality of openings formed in the printed circuit panel. The dimension be tween the outer surface of the bulges of the legs of any one connector is therefore greater than the inside dimen sion of the hole or opening in a circuit panel into which the legs are to be inserted, so that once the inner edges of the panel opening have passed the center of the bulge, the tendency is to pull the insulating body portion toward the panel.

At the point where the legs 20 and 21 adjoin the remainder of the connector assembly, small shoulders 25 and 26 are provided. The large dimension between these shoulders is substantially greater than the inside diameter of the openings in the printed circuit panel, so that the shoulders 25 and 26 serve as limit stops for controlling the depth to which the connector members may be inserted in the panel and further to provide the desired spacing between the insulating body portion carrying the connector members and the printed circuit panel.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 for a description of the configuration of the insulating body member 10, it will be seen that from FIGS. 1 and 2 the general outline consists essentially of an annular b'o-dy 3.0 having an annular flange 31 adjacent and parallel to one face of the annular body portion. A plurality of openings, preferably rectangular in cross section, are formed axially through the flange 31 and these openings are indicated at 32. A second plurality of openings 33, also of substantially rectangular cross section, are formed axially through the body portion. As will be apparent firorn FIGS. 1 and 2, the openings 33 equal in number to the first plurality of openings, are centered on the same radius, but spaced radially inwardly of the openings 32. It will be further apparent from a consideration of FIGS. 3 and 4 that at the upper inner end of each of the openings 33, there is formed a shoulder 35. The material of the body member between adjacent radially aligned openings is cut away to a depth bringing its upper surf-ace 36 to a level below the shoulder 35 by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the connecting web 14 of the connector members as shown most clearly in FIG. 4.

In order to assemble the connectors in the body portion, therefore, one connector is placed in each of the openings 32 in the position shown in FIG. 3. It will be noted that the prong leg of the connector members is relatively snugly received within the openings. 32 and that a portion of the upper surface of the tube prong receiving member abuts the outer corner of the shoulder 35. The lower edges of the latter portion are in contact with the upper inner corner of the shoulder 36. With all the connectors so placed in the openings of the body member, the entire assembly, when thus loosely assembled, is placed in a die fixture having a cluster of seven flat-ended pins corresponding to the seven connector members. This cluster of flat-ended pins is then pushed down on each of the connector members at a point approximately coinciding with the position of the connecting web 14. In one operation, all of the connector members are transferred from the loosely assembled position shown FIG. 3 to the final assembled position shown in FIG. 4. It will be noted that in the position .of FIG. 4, the tube prong receiving socket portion is now at substantially right angles to the remainder of the connector assembly and the tube prong contacting members 16 and 17 have been spread to the position shown in FIG. 6. The spreading is done by accurately sized pins on the die which are effective to provide the proper degree of spreading for firm tube pin gripping action. Furthermore, the upper inner end of the tube prong receiving portion is now in contact with the shoulder 35. The shoulder 35 therefore prevents dislodging of the connector from the body portion during withdrawal of a tube from a socket. It will be further noted that the connect ing web portion 14 is now flush with the upper surface of the shoulder 36. After this initial assembly step, a further operation is performed which involves bringing a plurality of cm actuated blades inwardly immediately beneath the flange 31 to shear the edges of the U-shaped channel section of the connector and flare them outwardly as sh'cwn'most clearly at 37 in FIG. 6. This provides a shoulder 37 on the channel section of the connector immediately adjacent the under side of the flange 31 and precludes dislodging of the connector members from the body portion during insertion of the socket into a printed circuit panel of the type shown for example in FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the function of the spring finger members 20 and 21 and the ball ends formed thereon will be described. FIG. 7 shows the under side of a typical printed circuit panel member 38 having a plurality of tube socket connector receiving openings 39 therethrough. The conductive portions 40 of the printed circuit as shown terminate adjacent and surrounding the periphery of each of these openings. When the tube socket is inserted from the upper side of the panel, it will require the application of a slight degree of force to urge the spring fingers 20 and 21 through the openings 38 in the circuit panel due to the enlarged portion 23 of these spring fingers. Once the degree of insertion has progressed beyond the center of the bulge portion, however, the tendency of the connectors is to pull the entire socket assembly further into the opening until the panel abuts the shoulders 25 and 26 on each connector. The distance between the center of the bulge portions 23 and the shoulders 25 and 26 is slightly greater than the thickness of the panel so that the entire assembly is then held fairly rigidly to the panel with the lower portion of the body member spaced therefrom. Soldered connections can then be made between the conductor portions of the panel adjacent the periphery of the openings 39 to the connector members 10 by either a spot or dip soldering operation to establish good electrical connections between the printed conductor members and the spring fingers 20 and 21. The openings 13 as shown in FIG. 4 are substantially aligned with the lower edge of the body member 30, thus providing for a limited radial compression of the prong assembly in the event of improperly spaced openings in the printed circuit panel.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, l0 and 11 for a description of a preferred tube shield attachment to a socket of the type previously described, it will be noted that a plurality of substantially semi-circular cutouts 42 are formed at spaced intervals around the periphery of the underside of the flange 31. An annular tube shield 43, having an inside diameter less than the outside diameter of the flange 31 is provided with an outwardly flared extension 44 at one end thereof. The inside diameter of the flared portion 44 is such as to snugly receive the flange 31 to a depth limited by the axial dimension of the flared portion. As shown in FIG. 11, the flared portion is then pressed into each of the cutouts 42 in order to anchor the shield to the body.

Each of the body members 10 includes a central bore or opening 45 for insertion of a connector member for use as a ground connection if desired. Such a ground connector is shown in FIG. 10 at 46. A channel 47 is formed in the body 30 as shown in FIG. 2 for reception From the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled.

in the art that there is herein shown and described a new and useful electron tube socket for use in conjunction with printed circuit panels. It will be further apparent that the unitary assembly provides in an insulating body, a plurality of connector members which function not only to receive the tube prongs but also to facilitate assembly 1 of tube sockets into the panel and to hold the socket in substantially rigid relationship for subsequent soldering operations. 1

While a preferred embodiment of our invention has Q been herein shown and described, applicants claim the benefit of a full range of equivalents within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An electron tube socket comprising: a substantially annular insulating body including a substantially annular flange; a plurality of slotsformed to a substantial depth in the radial face of said flange, each of said slots lying on a radius of said flange; a plurality of axially extendthe outer end of each of said slots; a second plurality of axially extending openings through said body, parallel to and spaced radially inwardly from said first plurality and one communicating with but spaced radially inwardly of the inner end of each of said slots to define a shoulder at the intersection of said second plurality of openings ing openings through said flange, one communicating with and said slots; a plurality of electrical connectors of substantially L-shaped outline, one positioned in each of said slots with the short leg of the L overlying the body portion between first and second openings andthe outer end of said short leg abutting said shoulder, the longer leg extending axially through the openings in the flange, and shoulder means formed in said long leg contiguous'to said flange; and means defining tube pin receiving means in the short leg of said connector.

2. The combination as defined by claim 1 in which said electrical connectors of substantially L-shaped outline have long legs of U-shaped channel cross-section with the connecting Web of the channel removed to define a bifurcated end' portion for insertion into openings in a printed circuit panel.

References Cited in the. file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,705,312 Peters Mar. 29, 1955 2,753,539 Oiferman -5. July 3, 1956 2,796,593 Offerrnan June 18, 1957 2,814,024 Narozny Nov. 19, 1957 2,861,249 Curtis Nov. 18, 1958 2,861,253 Johanson Nov. 18, 1958 2,904,772 Artz Sept. 15, 1959 2,917,723 Gluck Dec. 15, 1959 2,941,179 Peters June 14, 1960 2,941,180 Del Camp June 14, 1960 2,990,532 Gluck June 27, 1961 3,017,596 Johnson Jan. 16, 1962 3,031,635 Gluck Apr. 24, 1962 

1. AN ELECTRON TUBE SOCKET COMPRISING: A SUBSTANTIALLY ANNUALAR INSULATING BODY INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY ANNULAR FLANGE; A PLURALITY OF SLOTS FORMED TO A SUBSTANTIAL DEPTH IN THE RADIAL FACE OF SAID FLANGE, EACH OF SAID SLOTS LYING ON A RADIUS OF SAID FLANGE, A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY EXTENDING OPENINGS THROUGH SAID FLANGE, ONE COMMUNICATING WITH THE OUTER END OF EACH OF SAID SLOTS; A SECOND PLURALITY OF AXIALLY EXTENDING OPENINGS THROUGH SAID BODY, PARALLEL TO AND SPACED RADIALLY INWARDLY FROM SAID FIRST PLURALITY AND ONE COMMUNICATING WITH BUT SPACED RADIALLY INWARDLY OF THE INNER END OF EACH OF SAID SLOTS TO DEFINE A SHOULDER AT THE INTERSECTION OF SAID SECOND PLURALITY OF OPENINGS AND SAID SLOTS; A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS OF SUBSTANTIALLY L-SHAPED OUTLINE, ONE POSITIONED IN EACH OF SAID SLOTS WITH THE SHORT LEG OF THE L OVERLYING THE BODY 